Resources 4 of 52
by Echowarrior
Summary: As Diana is given a crashcourse in Cybertronian history and myth, the Decepticons, desperate for Energon, stage a raid at a human power plant.
1. Chapter 1

Resources

A Transformers: Armada Story

By William Rendfeld

The Earth, a shimmering sphere in the void of space. A shining blue world, teaming with life and energy. Unbeknownst to the majority of its inhabitants, the human race, they are no longer alone. The Transformers have arrived.

* * *

In the mountains near Portland, Oregon, a yellow sports car roared into a large clearing, its markings leading one to believe that it was headed towards a mountain climbing accident. This was not the case, however, as the car rolled towards Mt. Saint Hilary, an active volcano and the point where an adventure began less than a week prior.

As the car continued, its lone occupant continued to see nothing in the distance, only to be greeted by a large vessel seeming to appear out of nowhere. The massive ship, a light gold against the earthen brown and green around it, towered over the landscape, almost making one fear who or what was within its confines.

The car halted not far away from the ship, and allowed its one occupant to exit; Diana Masters, a simple school teacher. "This is your ship?" she asked. "Somehow I thought it'd be bigger."

"The _Ark_ shuttle isn't much, I'll give you that, Ms. Masters," the car replied as it shifted and changed into the familiar shape of the Autobot warrior Hot Shot. "But stealth is the bigger concern right now, and a smaller ship's a lot easier to hide than a bigger one."

Diana nodded her head in understanding. "That makes sense. So, how about we get this tour started?"

Hot Shot nodded, then knelt down, extending his hand to allow Diana to climb on. She did so, and quickly found herself deposited on his left shoulder as the large robot walked up towards the shuttle, its primary hatch opening to allow them entry.

* * *

Elsewhere, on Earth's moon, the Decepticon Starscream silently looked over some sensor readings from Earth. Several small beacons were clear across the planet, displaying the locations of Mini-Con stasis units.

_Not much to go on,_ Starscream thought to himself, noticing the locations of several Mini-Con pods. Most of these are near human settlements or installations. We'll have to be careful about where we go from here on out.

"Starscream?" a familiar voice asked.

Starscream looked up from his console and asked, "Yes, Demolishor? Something the matter?"

"I'm just curious to see what you're doing," Demolishor replied.

With a smile, Starscream explained, "I'm keeping an optic on the Mini-Con pods, just in case the Autobots head after them." Shifting the sensor scope a bit, he asked, "Speaking of, how are you getting along with Blackout and the Land Military Team?"

"Pretty well, actually," Demolishor replied. "I can almost get to like these guys, actually. Wreckage is pretty clear-headed and has good military senses, and Bonecrusher's a good fighter in his own right. Knock Out's a bit trigger happy, but that's forgivable. It's Blackout that's a problem."

"How so?" Starscream asked.

"He's a bit...radical," Demolishor replied. "He's got an open disrespect for authority, especially with Megatron. He'll follow orders, but I doubt he'll be too willing to engage in battle."

"Some things can't be helped, Demolishor," Starscream replied. "Right now, however, we have bigger concerns." The screen on Starscream's monitor flickering even as he said this, he added, "Low energy being one of them. Between the cloaking device and repairs from battling the Autobots, our Energon supplies are low, and Megatron will definitely expect a solution to this little problem."

* * *

"Your armor's patched up, Optimus," the Autobot medic Red Alert dutifully informed his commanding officer as he finished repairing the small scorches and scars in Optimus Prime's armor from the Autobots' recent battle with the Decepticons. "You'd best lay off a bit to allow your internals time to repair, but you're good to go in case something happens."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Red," Optimus noted as he got to his feet. "I only hope we can keep this up. We only have so much Energon, and we can't risk a warp gate to Cybertron to replenish it."

"Smokescreen's been tossing a few ideas around, but nothing concrete so far," Red Alert reported. "Still, he'll find something."

"I don't doubt that," Optimus noted. "Still, we'll worry about the Energon at a later time. Hot Shot should be back by now, and we have a curious guest to entertain."

"Optimus, are you sure having her here is a good idea?" Red Alert replied.

"We will eventually have to reveal ourselves to humanity, Red," Optimus explained. "Having a few people know now, and know the whole truth, won't hurt us in the long run."

With those words, Optimus exited the medical bay, leaving Red Alert to think aloud, "I hope you're right."

* * *

"Now, Starscream," Megatron, leader of the small faction of Decepticons in 'control' of Earth's moon, began, "you know as well as I that we require Energon in order to power our equipment, our weapons, and ourselves, correct?"

"Yes," Starscream replied.

"And you know that with our battles with the Autobots, the constant activation of our cloaking field, and the planetary scanners, we are using Energon at a high rate."

"Also correct," Starscream replied.

"Then tell me, here and now..." Megatron asked, slowly walking up to Starscream in calm, controlled steps. Without warning and within seconds, Megatron grabbed Starscream by his collar, lifted him up, extended a small knife blade from his left hand and bellowed, "HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO REPLENISH OUR ENERGON SUPPLIES!"

"I've been giving some thought to that, actually," Starscream admitted. "The humans have numerous hydroelectric power generators. We could warp to one of their facilities, scare off any humans in the vicinity, then begin converting any energy created into Energon cubes. With proper timing, we can be in and out before the Autobots even know we're there."

Megatron thought that plan over in his head, then smiled. "An excellent proposition, Starscream," he commended. "Ready the others and the Mini-Cons. We have some Energon to collect."

* * *

"I hope we haven't been poor hosts, Miss Masters," Optimus Prime said as he led Diana down a small hallway, his Mini-Con partner Sparkplug in tow.

"Far from it, Optimus," Diana replied. "You've all been very accommodating. Besides, I'd give my left arm to see information like this."

"Don't be too excited," Sparkplug warned in a saddened tone. "There really isn't that much to talk about so far as our race is concerned. We haven't really done much beyond fight amongst ourselves."

"The same can be said for Earth, Sparkplug," Diana reminded the Mini-Con. "Sometimes looking through history from someone else's perspective can put new light on your own problems, maybe even solve them." With an odd look, Diana shrugged and explained, "A girl can dream, can't she?"

A massive door opened before the trio, allowing them to step inside a large chamber within the _Ark_ shuttle. "Miss Masters, welcome to the central computer hub of Teletran One."

Before them stood a massive, cylindrical computer bank, its core pulsating and glowing with energy and coolant. Numerous, massive screens extended from the core via mechanized arms, displaying data on ship's systems, sensor readings, and memory usage.

"Incredible," escaped Diana's lips as she took in her surroundings.

"You should see the central computers back on Cybertron," Sparkplug noted as a screen lowered itself down before them. "Teletran One, access historical files. Begin with earliest confirmed data." As the program began to load, Sparkplug advised, "You might want to take notes."

"Already got that covered," Diana replied, a notepad and pencil already in her hands.

The screen quickly displayed a large, metallic planetoid as Optimus narrated, "Cybertron, the homeworld of every Transformer ever brought into existence. Cybertron is in orbit of the binary star you know as Alpha Centauri. It's approximately the size of the sixth planet in your own solar system, the gas giant Saturn, and has two natural orbiting satellites, each one the size of Earth. The capitol city and central point of government and defense is Iacon, a massive hub-city located at Cybertron's North Pole. Cybertron and its moons have hydrogen-oxygen atmospheres, but relatively little in the form of proper resources for organic life; no water, and no true plant life to speak of."

"Amazing," Diana realized. "You aren't that far away from us."

"Far enough that humanity won't be encountering us in space for a while," Sparkplug commented as the screen shifted again.

"While many parts of the origin of our race remain without absolute proof, the information here is unquestionable," Optimus continued. "About nine million years ago, a race of robotic beings known as Quintessons found Cybertron, and saw a world of limitless potential. They found resources, raw materials, and the capability to build an empire the likes of which the galaxy had yet to see. They used these resources to build weapons, starships, and ultimately, labor units for use as a workforce. These units were little more than slaves, used and discarded when no longer capable of being repaired. This practice continued for ages until the Quintessons began exploring the inner workings of Cybertron. Their curiosity ended up allowing their defeat, as they discovered a massive super computer deep beneath Cybertron's surface called Vector Sigma. The eight drones sent, two heavy labor, two defense, and four precision labor, were imbued with sentience and life. They were the first sentient inhabitants of Cybertron capable of fighting back against the Quintessons. Slowly but surely, more slaves, captured by living Cybertronians, were given life by Vector Sigma. Once several thousand were given life, the First Cybertronian War, the War of Independence, began. We struck back against the Quintessons and their forces, but not without casualties. The heavy labor units became Autobots, the defense units became Decepticons, and the precision labor units became Mini-Cons."

As Diana quickly jotted down the notes, the screen before her showed footage of the battles between the early Cybertronians and their Quintesson oppressors. As the battles continued, massive robotic forms tearing apart the much smaller Transformers they were combating. Despite this, two familiar Cybertronians stood out. One of them, a large, familiar red and blue robot, stood on the front lines, flanked by several smaller Cybertronians and numerous others of similar sizes.

"That 'we' back there, you meant 'we' as in the Cybertronian people, right?" Diana asked.

"Yes, and no," Optimus replied. "I was there from the beginning. In fact, I was among the first Cybertronians to be given life by Vector Sigma. Sparkplug was another, as was my current second-in-command, Jetfire, and the Decepticon Starscream."

"Which would make the two of you about nine million years old," Diana noted. With a surprised glance to both Sparkplug and Prime, she joked, "You've aged well."

"It's very hard to get rid of us once we're brought online, Miss Masters," Sparkplug replied.

"Despite our constructions, it eventually became clear that we would require unique technologies in order to defeat the Quintessons and free our world. Drawing on ancient data from within Vector Sigma's databanks, we developed two unique technologies; Powerlinx technology, and Transformation technology. It is thanks to the latter that we draw the second name for our race; Transformers."

"And that technology allowed you to shift between forms, allowing for greater strength and speed in one mode and greater agility and maneuverability in the other," Diana reasoned.

"Exactly," Optimus replied. "Powerlinx technology, meanwhile, allows for several Transformers to combine with one another. In the case of a Mini-Con combining with a larger Transformer such as an Autobot or Decepticon, it allows for an overall increase in power, strength, and weapons yield. In the case of several Transformers of a similar size Powerlinking, it can serve to increase one unit's firepower, strength, armor, or give them additional combat abilities. You've already seen one example of a Mini-Con group Powerlink in the form of the Street Action Team merging into Perceptor."

"I remember," Diana replied. "I take it the war eventually ended."

"It did," Optimus continued. "After two million years and countless casualties on both sides, the war ended, and the Quintessons left Cybertron at last. For the next three million years lasted an age of peace and tranquility dubbed 'the Golden Age', where we rebuilt our world, explored it, developed the many technologies we have now by reverse-engineering Quintesson technology, and repopulated our planet. Then, four million years ago, tragedy struck."

The screen shifted to show massive explosions throughout a Cybertronian city. As the three watched, numerous Transformers bearing the Decepticon emblem stormed the streets, tearing through the city and attacking any Transformers in their path, capturing Mini-Cons and leaving any other Transformers, Autobot or Decepticon, destroyed.

"The Second Cybertronian War, otherwise known as the Uprising," Optimus narrated. "A small faction of Decepticons, represented by none other than Megatron, had become dissatisfied with the state of Cybertron at the time, claiming that their natural right to expand into other systems had been stifled. We Autobots argued that all Transformers were needed on Cybertron in order to rebuild our world, as well as to discover all we could about our world and our origins. Some discussion was made about allowing for the Decepticons' request, but their harsh actions only showed us what they meant by expansion; conquest and enslavement, as they forced several Mini-Cons into their service. In response, a force of Autobots, Decepticons and Mini-Cons took up arms to stop Megatron and his forces. We were successful in freeing the enslaved Mini-Cons, but not in capturing Megatron and his forces."

"Shortly afterwards, it was decided amongst us Mini-Cons that we should evacuate Cybertron and seek a new world to live on until Megatron and his forces were permanently dealt with," Sparkplug explained. "We modified one of the last remaining Quintesson ships into a massive vessel capable of carrying us to another world, and launched into space. Unfortunately, something happened not long after we launched."

As the screen cut off, Diana asked, "What happened?"

"Several of the ship's systems malfunctioned at once," Sparkplug explained. "We managed to evacuate into the stasis units and jettison them from the ship, but we had no idea where we would land. Most of the pods are probably here on Earth, while others are probably scattered throughout the inner Sol system. But we still have no idea what caused the systems to fail."

"What happened to the ship?" Diana asked.

"Presumably, it fell into Earth's atmosphere," Optimus stated. "However, that's only a theory, and we don't have the resources to mount a full scale search. This shuttle only has a pair of useable flight pods, and all our resources at this point are necessary for locating the other Mini-Con stasis units and holding back the Decepticons."

Diana nodded, then asked, "You said earlier that some of your origins were shrouded in mystery. Which ones specifically?"

"Where Vector Sigma came from, and how it was able to give us life," Prime replied. "And what triggered its activation. There are only a few theories, but nothing that can be easily proven in a scientific manner. One popular theory deals with Primus."

"Primus?" Diana asked.

"In human terms, our God," Sparkplug replied. "Some believe that Primus's consciousness is housed deep within Cybertron itself, and that Vector Sigma is one of several bridges between him and Cybertron's populace. While it's mostly speculation and religious mysticism, the existence of sparks do support the theory."

"Sparks?" Diana asked. "Are those like a Transformer's soul?"

"Yes, but we can actually see them," Sparkplug explained as several panels slid open in his chest, revealing a pulsating blue orb protected by heavy armor. "Each spark gives us our personalities, our individuality. We cannot live without them."

"And these sparks are said to have been created by Primus?" Diana asked.

"They are portions of Primus's own essence," Optimus noted. "When a Transformer passes, their Spark returns to Primus, enriching him, Cybertron, and in turn all Cybertronians. The longer the life, the greater the enrichment."

"So mass suicides aren't encouraged," Diana noted. "That's one thing Earth could do without." As Sparkplug closed his spark chamber, she asked, "But you said that Vector Sigma was only one of many links between the average Cybertronian and Primus. Are there any others?"

"One," Optimus noted as he knelt down. He opened his chest plate, revealing a large, vaguely oval-shaped golden frame surrounding a circular core. "This is the Matrix. It was given to me soon after I was given life. Contained within is the essence of Primus, imbibed with wisdom and power the likes of which no other Cybertronian is capable of. His wisdom has guided me since the beginning."

"So you truly believe that Primus does exist," Diana reasoned.

As he closed his chest plate, Prime replied, "When you carry a large golden frame around in your chest that can and has given life in the past, you tend to think it's not just a piece of jewelry."

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the owners and staff, I welcome you on a grand tour of the Sherman Dam Hydroelectric Power Facility," came the warm greeting from the tour guide as she welcomed her charges.

The tour guide and her charges stood within a massive courtyard, numerous large electrical turbines, each spinning and creating massive amounts of electricity every second, surrounding them at all sides.

"Before we begin the tour, we ask you to turn off all cameras and recording devices and please remain with the tour group at all times," the tour guide asked. "Thank..."

Within seconds, several large flashes of light interrupted her thoughts as five massive forms, the tallest being well over thirty feet in height, took form within the courtyard, six smaller human-sized forms appearing with them. Within seconds, the eleven took form and towered over the smaller, more terrified humans within the chamber.

"Long-range transport complete," Starscream reported as he and his fellow Decepticons collected their senses from the trip.

"That wasn't bad at all," Demolishor noted. "Kinda tickled."

It was at that point that the Decepticons noted the smaller figures at their feet. Megatron quickly declared, "Earthlings, I am Megatron of the Decepticon Armada. Vacate the premises immediately, or I will wipe you all out in an instant!"

Suffice it to say, the humans present quickly vacated the premises, one Japanese man complaining, "This is why I left Tokyo!"

"That was quick," Cyclonus noted. "Great show, boss."

"Thank you, Cyclonus, we tyrants must amuse ourselves," Megatron replied. "Starscream, Demolishor, begin harvesting energy from this facility for conversion into Energon cubes. Thrust, Cyclonus, take the Military Team and ready the defenses. No doubt the Autobots will attempt to stop us."

* * *

"I hope our little lecture hasn't bored you, Miss Masters," Optimus noted as he led Sparkplug and Diana out of the computer chamber.

"Not at all," Diana replied. "This whole thing has been fascinating. But there's one thing that's nagging at me."

"What's that?" Optimus asked.

"Well, Cybertronian beliefs mesh a bit with Earth religions," Diana noted. "The one 'god' entity, an 'Allspark' for lack of a better term, both have similarities in things envisioned here on Earth. But one thing seems to be missing from what you told me; a counter to Primus, a Destroyer to the Creator." Noticing the tomb-like silence from her two companions, she asked, "Or is there one?"

Optimus reflected on that for a moment, then said, "There is, yes. And like Primus, there is evidence to suggest his existence. Cybertronian astronomers have watched the stars for millennia, and have seen numerous worlds blink out of existence, seemingly at random. And for those of us who were the first to be given life millions of years ago, there has been a growing dread from the deepest corners of our sparks. We can feel it; he is out there, and he may be coming."

"'He?'" Diana asked.

"Unicron," Sparkplug replied. "The Dark God, the Chaos Bringer, the Devourer of Worlds. It's said that he is as old as space itself, and can only be harmed, never destroyed. It's said that he has crossed dimensions, taken countless prisoners from worlds claimed in the past, and subverted them for his own ends. It's said that his very voice can tear stars apart."

"And you think he may someday come to Cybertron?" Diana asked.

"It's very possible," Optimus replied. "Should he ever come, however, we will stand against him."

Before Diana could ask about the extent of that 'we', alarm klaxons blared throughout the _Ark_, alerting those within.

"Optimus, we have a situation," the familiar voice of Red Alert intoned. "We're picking up Decepticon activity at a human energy facility. All five Decepticons and their Mini-Con contingent."

"Have Hot Shot, Scavenger, Jolt and Rollbar meet me in Shuttle Bay Two," Optimus replied. "And ask Smokescreen to come down here to escort our guest to the Forward Command Center. If anything happens, she'll be safest there."

"Understood," Red Alert replied before cutting the transmission.

Optimus then turned to Diana and said, "I'm afraid we'll have to cut the tour short."

"I understand," Diana replied. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Optimus responded as he and Sparkplug transformed to vehicle mode. "We may need it."

* * *

Megatron couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride in himself. Starscream's plan was succeeding quite well; the humans had been scared off, artificial Energon was being produced at a satisfactory rate, and thus far they had no problems. And even if the Autobots arrived to attack them, they had already won the battle; all that would be needed was a diversion to keep the Autobots at bay long enough for them to make off with their prize.

"Megatron, sir, I'm reading a small craft heading towards us," Thrust reported. "Most likely an Autobot stealth pod."

"Not unexpected," Megatron noted. He clipped on his radio and ordered, "Starscream, report status."

"Energon production is sixty percent complete," Starscream reported. "We could use some assistance with loading, however."

"You'll make due with what you have," Megatron harshly replied. "We're about to have company. Load all the Energon you can then pull out. No excuses."

"Understood," Starscream replied as another empty cube glistened a bright pink with converted electrical energy. "Demolishor, how much more can you carry?"

Demolishor stood nearby in vehicle mode, a massive cargo hauler connected to his rear. "I'm at 45 percent capacity now, sir. How much longer before they arrive?"

"Considering the fact that the Autobots would only be setting off from wherever they're based right about now?" Starscream replied. "I'd say about a breem, maybe less."

"No pressure," Blackout dryly noted as he loaded another Energon cube into Demolishor's cargo hauler.

* * *

The peaceful skies above Sherman Dam were soon shattered by the low roar of atmospheric engines. An angular black craft, small by Transformer standards, arced through the air towards the dam even as fire began to pour against it.

"I'd say the 'Cons have noticed us," Hot Shot stated as he plugged a flight wing into his left Powerlinx port.

"They're far from stupid, Hot Shot," Scavenger assured his protégé as he keyed in several commands to the ship's control panel. "Autopilot's set and stealth systems are online."

"Get ready to roll out, bots," Optimus commanded as Sparkplug Powerlinked to his back port.

Optimus pulled a small lever, opening the ship's main hatch seconds before he leaped from the ship, Hot Shot and Scavenger following soon after with Jolt and Rollbar Powerlinked to their respective left limbs. Hot Shot's flight wings soon activated, allowing the young Autobot to jet in over the area and begin strafing the Decepticons below.

"Hey, no fair!" Cyclonus cried out from below. "Since when could Autobots fly?"

"It matters little," Megatron bellowed as he prepped his fusion cannon. "We'll simply blast them out of the sky!"

"Don't count on it, Megatron!" Optimus returned as small jump jets in his legs activated, slowing his landing as he descended onto the dam. Almost instantaneously, Optimus opened fire with his arm-mounted guns, allowing for cover as Scavenger activated similar jets in his legs and came in for a landing nearby, his waist-mounted gun providing fire of its own. "Give it up while you can, you can't keep it up forever!"

"You'll see just how long I can keep this up!" Megatron commanded. "Land Military Team, Leader-1, Powerlink!"

Megatron's leg compartment opened up, allowing Leader-1 to emerge and Powerlink to the large Decepticon tyrant's right arm. The three members of the Land Military Team begrudgingly leapt up, transformed to their vehicle modes, and Powerlinked to Megatron on his other arm and opposite shoulders. The powered-up tyrant began unleashing his firepower against the comparatively-weaker Autobots as Hot Shot came in for a landing at an elevated position and readied his cannon unit. His targeting screen flipped down as he locked on to Megatron and said, "Okay, hold still..."

Hot Shot's thoughts were interrupted as a blast rocketed into his back. He turned around to find Thrust floating nearby. "A cunning tactic, young one. However, you forgot to watch your back."

Hot Shot spun around and shot back, "Watch this," before firing off his cannon at Thrust, striking the flying Decepticon hard in the abdomen. He staggered back as Hot Shot readied his pistol and continued fire.

Just as the battle was beginning to increase in intensity, Starscream radioed in to Megatron, "Sir, we've finished loading the Energon. Demolishor and Blackout are already back at base, and I'm preparing remote transfer."

"Understood," Megatron replied as he cut off the transmission. "A worthy effort, Prime, but wasted! We've already gotten what we came for!"

With those words, Megatron, Cyclonus and the Mini-Cons with them shifted away, Thrust following soon after.

Optimus deactivated his weapons and called, "Status report."

"No damage to us, sir, and the structure has only suffered light damage itself," Scavenger replied. "Any idea what all this may have been about?"

"Most likely an energy raid," Optimus noted. "They're most likely in more dire straights than we are."

A long range-transmission soon came in as a familiar voice piped in, "Optimus? You there, sir?"

"I'm here, Smokescreen," Optimus replied. "The Decepticons have departed. No injuries on our part. Any specifics on this facility?"

"It's a hydroelectric power plant," Diana's familiar voice answered. "One of the cleaner sources of energy here on Earth. Water goes through a set of turbines, which generate electricity using their motion. That plant supplies energy to most of Portland."

"We can verify that, sir," Red Alert piped in. "We read several power drops throughout the area while the Decepticons were present. They're gone now."

"Can we talk about this later, guys?" Hot Shot piped in. "I'm seeing several ground vehicles heading for our position."

Optimus considered his options, then declared, "Head back to the shuttle and prepare for lift-off."

-

_Hours later..._

"...Numerous minor power outages occurred today throughout Portland, owing to equipment failure at Sherman Dam. The plant was temporarily evacuated shortly thereafter. No injuries have been reported, and normal plant operations have since been restored..."

"We're lucky they left when they did," Optimus noted as he shut off the monitor. "Any ideas, gentlebots?"

"Power drain on the nearby city, lack of damage to any equipment," Smokescreen listed off. "Sounds like they stormed the place and used the turbines to create artificial Energon."

"A sound theory," Red Alert noted. "They're more desperate for resources than we ourselves are, and this is the easiest option they had. Starscream may even have suggested it himself."

"Sounds like him," Scavenger noted. "The big question at this point is, how are we going to avoid the same course of action? We can't exactly call in for refills."

"I've been working on that particular problem," Red Alert noted as he activated a monitor. "We can build a small group of solar receivers here on Earth. They'll go unnoticed by the humans and Decepticons, and should allow us to create artificial Energon of our own."

"How long will we need to construct them?" Optimus asked in reply.

"Assuming I can get the materials and a suitable place for construction?" Red asked. "Three Earth days, a week at most."

"Get started as soon as you can," Optimus replied. "We're going to need all we can get."

* * *

Meanwhile, Starscream stood within the _Nemesis_, going over the Decepticons' rather impressive haul. Assuming nothing exciting happened within the next few breems or so, they would have this stockpile for some time to come. No need to worry about Energon depletion, and plenty of time to worry about locating more Mini-Cons.

"No rest for the wicked," Starscream noted to himself as he exited the chamber.

The End


	2. Chapter 1 ReEdit

Resources

A Transformers: Armada Story

By William Rendfeld

Birds and other wildlife scattered as a modified yellow Audi TT wound its way over a large clearing, the occasional bump and dip in the road causing it to bounce in its path. Within the car's interior, its only occupant held on for dear life, glad for a very secure seatbelt and the handle. "You guys have been here over a week and you haven't found a smoother path to follow?"

"Sorry, Diana, but we need to take a different path to and from our ship each time, otherwise someone might notice." One particularly large bump on his undercarriage caused Hot Shot to give a pained yelp. Having left the city proper, he had dropped his holoform that was occupying the driver's seat, leaving his passenger to converse with a flashing radio. "Believe me, I'm not happy about it either. We're almost there, though, just a couple more minutes."

The Autobot's assurances soon bore fruit as the ground began to even out. Diana watched in surprise as a large gold-orange vessel seemed to appear out of nowhere, towering over the landscape and dwarfing everything below. At its front was a large rounded section, a small projection at its tip and a long ridge running up its top. A long, thick neck connected it to the rest of the vessel, a blocky area with two wings littered with numerous engines, a dome-like structure at its top. Despite having seen some immense structures in her lifetime, Diana couldn't help but be awestruck.

Hot Shot slowed to a halt, his passenger door opening and letting her step out, still staring. "My god… It's huge! How big is this thing?"

"If I remember the conversions right, the _Ark's_ something like two hundred and seventy-five meters in length," the yellow racer answered while transforming. "Believe it or not, it's one of our smaller ones. Vanguard class, five decks with a total crew compliment of three hundred full-sized Cybertronians, and enough speed and firepower to hold her own. The stealth tech's good too."

"I noticed." A smile crossing her lips, the teacher looked up to the young Autobot. "So, how about we get this tour started?"

* * *

Starscream's shutters narrowed as he continued going over sensor readings from Earth. The telltale signs of beacons from the _Exodus_' escape pods were present, predominant mostly in the planet's western hemisphere, but many of them were unclear. Some were weak, either a result of electromagnetic interference or due to the pods being buried under several thousand vorns worth of rock and dirt. It wasn't much to go on, but it was all he had.

"Starscream?"

The Seeker looked up from his console, his sight adjusting in the dimmed light. "Yes, Demolishor? Something the matter?"

"I'm just curious to see what you're doing." The tank glanced over the monitor. "Looking for Mini-Cons?"

A nod. "Just in case the Autobots head after them. Speaking of the Mini-Cons, how are you getting along with Blackout and the Land Military Team?"

"Pretty good, actually. I can almost get to like 'em – Wreckage is pretty clear-headed and has good military senses, and Bonecrusher's a good fighter in his own right. Knock Out's a bit trigger happy, but that's not a bad thing. It's Blackout that's a problem."

"How so?"

"He's a bit… radical." At the Seeker's curious glance, he shrugged weakly. "He's always questioning me, asking why I'm here. It's almost like he's got an open disrespect for authority, especially Megatron's. He'll follow orders, but I doubt he'll be too willing to engage in battle."

"Some things can't be helped, Demolishor." The monitor screen flickered, leaving Starscream to give a frustrated groan. "Right now, however, we have bigger concerns, low energy reserves chief among them. Between the cloaking device and repairs from battling the Autobots, our energon supplies are dwindling, and Megatron will definitely expect a solution."

"Well, you're the idea guy around here – you've gotta have some that'll help the problem."

"A few… but they may not have good enough results."

* * *

_:"Incoming space bridge transit on Terminus 6. Everyone on the Hub floor is advised to stay behind the safety line.":_

Jetfire relaxed as he watched the familiar burst of energy and light coalesce into a space bridge portal. The easiest method of moving individual travelers through space, the space bridge was one of the many methods of interstellar travel available to Cybertronians – so as long as there was a terminus at both points and enough power, one could quickly and easily move individuals and objects between two points in space. The only limitations were that the terminus' destination could not be switched with another, nor could a space bridge be pointed at a place that did not have a terminus at the end. Fortunately, the Hub was large enough to accommodate several termini, and there were a number of ships readily available to travel to places without a terminus in place.

As the portal solidified, a pair of Autobots emerged. One was large, predominantly blue but with bits of bright red and white on his armor, a pair of guns and a set of large lights resting on his shoulders and surrounding his head. The other was smaller, colored deep yellow and brown, with a long crane mounted on his right arm.

"Wasn't expecting to see you until the job on Velocitron was done, Roadblock." The portal faded, and the Autobot Vice Commander continued, "Still, I'm not complaining. Welcome home."

"My team can handle the final stages of construction easily enough without me. Besides, I wanted to get a look at the damage done to the spaceport." Indicating his escort, the head of the Autobot Corps of Engineers added, "Besides, Ironhide wanted to present a few ideas."

"Sir!" the young architect enthusiastically greeted his commander with a sharp salute.

"At ease, kid, this isn't a review. You'll get plenty of chances at the briefings later, alright?"

Ironhide gave a nervous chuckle and relaxed. "Right. Sorry, Jetfire."

As Jetfire led them out of the Hub and into a long hallway, several other Cybertronians milling past, Roadblock switched topics. "I've heard about the signal from Earth. Any news yet?"

"None so far, and I don't expect any. One good subspace burst, and Megatron'll find the _Ark_. Right now, stealth's the best thing they've got." He raised a hand. "And before either of you say it, no, I'm not happy about Prime heading the mission himself."

"Actually, I'm not surprised he went – he never felt good about the Mini-Cons leaving. I'd feel the same if I had a partner or two out there." They reached the door leading into the Decagon. "For what it's worth, I hope they're doing alright over there."

"You and the rest of us."

* * *

"And that should do it." Red Alert finished welding a piece of armor plating that had been damaged in Optimus' recent battle with Megatron. The medic looked over the wound before inputting the needed data into the medical files. "You're good to go in case something happens, but right now, I think you're better off taking a rest cycle or two so the welds can set in."

"As much as I'd like to, Red, you and I both know it isn't that easy." Optimus got to his feet, testing his joints in both arms as he did so. "I just hope we can keep this up. We only have so much energon, and we can't risk a warp gate to Cybertron to replenish it, or the Decepticons will pick up our signal."

"Smokescreen's been tossing a few ideas around, but nothing concrete so far." The medic tried his best to look optimistic. "He'll find something, given enough time."

"There's not a doubt in my processor about that. Right now, however, I have a curious guest to entertain."

"Speaking of, are you sure having Diana here is a good idea?" When his leader looking at him sharply, Red Alert ducked his head a bit. "Admittedly, she is a reasonable and likable person, but this curiosity seems a little suspicious."

The Autobot leader nodded. "I understand your concerns. However, you have to be willing to give trust in order to receive it. And eventually, we will have proper first contact with humanity. I won't be divulging military secrets, but having someone know our history and culture now won't hurt us in the long run."

The medic watched as his commander exited, still doubtful. "I hope you're right."

* * *

Megatron studied his subordinate imperiously from his command chair, the dim lighting doing little to make his visage less frightening. "Now, Starscream, you know as well as I that we require energon in order to power our equipment, our weapons, and ourselves, correct?"

"Yes, milord. Thus these measures – emergency lighting only, conservative power use, and so forth."

"And you know that with our battles with the Autobots, the constant activation of our cloaking field, and the use of planetary scanners, we are using energon at an alarming rate."

"Also correct, Lord Megatron. And I do have some ideas to help aid our power requirements." The Seeker activated a monitor screen near his leader's chair, graphics appearing and representing Earth, its moon and its sun. "Save the occasional eclipse, this moon's polar regions are almost constantly bathed in sunlight. Given time and materials, I can construct a number of solar arrays at one or both areas, allowing us to generate a near-constant supply of artificial energon."

"Forgive my interruption, Lord Megatron." Thrust all but shoved his way forward, a datapad in hand. "While Starscream's proposal is intriguing, it will also consume time and resources, ones better spent on Mini-Con retrieval. I have a counter-proposal." He handed over the datapad. "The humans have a number of hydroelectric power facilities. We could easily warp to one of these, force those present to flee, and use the energy present to create energon immediately. With proper timing, we can depart without attracting Autobot attention."

The warlord pursed his lips thoughtfully, looking over first the datapad then the monitor screen. "Starscream, how difficult will it be to construct these solar arrays?"

"I have most of the materials available here on the _Nemesis_. What I don't have I can easily convert from lunar ores and soils. The only impediment is time – I'd need several mega-cycles at least, a deca-cycle at most."

Megatron thought silently for a moment before making his decision. "While your proposal is excellent, Starscream, we do not have the time to waste. For now, we follow Thrust's suggestion – depending upon the amount we harvest, you can begin work on your solar arrays afterwards. Ready the others and the Mini-Cons. We have some energon to collect."

* * *

"I hope the ride up here wasn't too unpleasant, Miss Masters." Optimus Prime walked slowly alongside the human woman and his Mini-Con partner, leading the two down a long hallway.

"I've had worse, Optimus. Trust me, a few bumps and bruises are worth seeing all this. And please, call me Diana." She had to marvel at how quiet Prime's footsteps were, belying his enormous size, and how little noise both mechs made when walking despite having metallic feet on metal floor.

Sparkplug gave a sad smile. "Don't be too excited. There really isn't that much to talk about so far as our race is concerned. All we've really done in the long term is fight amongst ourselves."

"The same can be said for Earth, Sparkplug. Besides, sometimes looking through history from someone else's perspective can put new light on your own problems, maybe even solve them." The Mini-Con gave her an odd look and she shrugged. "A girl can dream, can't she?"

"It never hurts." They stopped walking as a massive door, easily taller than Optimus, slide open to one side of the hall. They entered, and Diana looked around in awe as the Autobot leader elaborated. "Diana, this is the Ark's central computer core, Teletraan-One."

Stretching upwards into the high ceiling before them stood a massive, cylindrical computer bank, its core pulsating and glowing with energy and coolant. Numerous, massive screens extended from the core via mechanized arms, displaying data on ship's systems, sensor readings, memory usage, and many other things that their guest could only speculate on.

"Incredible," escaped Diana's lips as she took in her surroundings. She didn't even want to think about its possible storage capacity. All she knew was that those in any industry related to computers would be literally green with envy. "I'm assuming these are standard on all your ships?"

"For the most part. The current model is the Teletraan-Thirteen; we're using them on our more recent ships. This is a little outdated, but still works smoothly." A screen lowered itself in front of them, and Sparkplug requested, "Teletraan-One, access historical files. Begin with earliest confirmed data." The information started loading, and the Mini-Con turned to the human. "You might want to take notes."

"Already got that covered." A notebook and pencil were already in her hands, as well a digital recorder clipped to her shirt pocket.

The screen quickly displayed a large metallic planetoid as Optimus began narrating. "Cybertron, the homeworld of every Autobot, Decepticon and Mini-Con known. It orbits the star your people know as Alpha Centauri A, and is approximately the size of the sixth planet in your own solar system, the gas giant Saturn, although with roughly the same mass as Earth due to its composition. We have two natural orbiting satellites, Aegis and Brasta, each the size of Earth and with comparable gravity. The capitol city and central point of government and defense is Iacon, a massive hub-city located at our northern polar region. Cybertron and its moons have hydrogen-oxygen atmospheres, but relatively little in the form of proper resources for organic life – we have liquid water, but no natural plant life to speak of. What few plants we have are imports from off-world, and limited to specific areas."

"Alpha Centauri… That's not too far away, only three or four light years." She raised an eyebrow at Sparkplug. "I'm surprised we haven't noticed you already."

"You were probably better off," the yellow Lamborghini commented as the monitor changed views.

"While many parts of our origins remain without absolute proof, what we have here is stated fact," Optimus continued as new images flashed onto the screen. Diana stepped back in shock as one image appeared of a squid-like being, switching between five separate faces. "About nine million Earth years ago, a race of techno-organic beings known as Quintessons discovered Cybertron and saw a world of limitless potential. They found resources, raw materials, and the capability to build an empire the likes of which the galaxy had yet to see. They used these resources to build weapons, starships, and ultimately, labor units for use as a workforce. These units were little more than slaves, used and discarded when they were no longer capable of being repaired. This practice continued until the Quintessons began exploring the inner workings of Cybertron and their curiosity led to the discovery of a massive supercomputer deep beneath our planet's surface, now called Vector Sigma. The eight drones sent – two heavy labor, two defense, and four precision labor – were imbued with sentience and life, and were the first sentient inhabitants of Cybertron capable of fighting back against the Quintessons. Slowly but surely, more slaves, captured by living Cybertronians, were given life by Vector Sigma. The heavy labor units came to be called Autobots, the defense units Decepticons, and the precision labor units Mini-Cons. Once several thousand of us were given life, the First Cybertronian War, also known as the War of Independence, began. We struck back against the Quintessons and their forces, but not without casualties."

As Diana quickly jotted down the notes, the screen before her showed footage of the battles between the early Cybertronians and their Quintesson masters. As the battles continued, massive robotic forms were seen tearing apart the much smaller Transformers they were combating. Despite this, two familiar Cybertronians stood out. One of them, a large, familiar red and blue robot, stood on the front lines, flanked by several smaller Cybertronians and numerous others of similar sizes.

"That 'we' back there, you meant 'we' as in the Cybertronian people, right?" She looked up at the Autobot leader. "I mean, that can't be you. …can it?"

"It is." Optimus nodded towards his partner. "I was one of the first eight, along with Sparkplug. The others were my current second-in-command, Jetfire, the Decepticons Jhiaxus and Starscream, and three other Mini-Cons – Leader-1, Comettor, and Safeguard."

"But that would make the two of you a little over nine million years old." Blinking in shock for a moment, she shook her head with a soft chuckle. "I wish I could age that well."

"Given proper maintenance and barring serious injury, we're practically immortal." Sparkplug gave a small smile. "It's not for everyone, but it has its advantages."

"However, it eventually became clear that we would need to evolve and develop new and unique technologies in order to defeat the Quintessons and free our world. Drawing on ancient data from within Vector Sigma's databanks, we developed two of those technologies: Powerlinx and Transformation. It is thanks to the latter that we draw the second name for our race: Transformers."

"And that lets you to switch between forms, allowing for greater strength and speed in one mode and greater agility and maneuverability in the other."

"Correct. Powerlinx technology, meanwhile, allows for several Transformers to combine with one another. In the case of a Mini-Con combining with a larger Transformer such as an Autobot or Decepticon, it allows for an overall increase in power, strength, and weapons yield. In the case of several Transformers of a similar size Powerlinking together, it can serve to increase one unit's firepower, strength, armor, or give them additional combat abilities."

"Not to mention altering and jumpstarting a dead car." Diana was still a little staggered by what Grindor had done with her Ford, but wasn't complaining. Aside from being in full working order, it was also getting far better mileage than it ever had before. "But that war did eventually end."

"Yes. After two million years and casualties on both sides, the Quintessons left Cybertron at last. For the next three million years lasted an age of peace and tranquility dubbed 'the Golden Age', where we rebuilt our world, explored it, developed the many technologies we have now by reverse-engineering Quintesson technology, and repopulated our planet. It wasn't entirely peaceful – we faced the occasional attack from off-planet, some prompted by the Quintessons and some on their own. The various battles are collectively known as the Outsider Wars. For all that time, however, we were a mostly united race, ruled by a joint council democratically elected from each of the many city-states on Cybertron. Eventually, however, it all ended four million years ago in tragedy."

Images changed to a video that showed massive explosions throughout a Cybertronian city. As the three watched, numerous Cybertronians bearing the Decepticon emblem stormed the streets, tearing through the area and attacking anyone in their path, capturing Mini-Cons and leaving many others, Autobot and Decepticon, practically destroyed.

"The Second Cybertronian War, otherwise known as Megatron's Uprising or the War of Insurrection." Optimus' tone gradually became downcast. "Before this, Megatron was a rising military general, given fame during the Outsider Wars for his bravery and many victories. However, he eventually pressed to have Cybertron begin to strike back and conquer those races which attacked us, claiming that we had a natural right to expand into other systems, a right which he claimed had been stifled. Some agreed, but most didn't, and his motion was denied by the Council. He ultimately formed his own small faction of Decepticons and showed us what he meant by expansion: conquest and enslavement. The Decepticons under his command forced several Mini-Cons into their service, some joining willingly while others fled or fought back. Numerous Cybertronians took up arms to stop him. We were successful in freeing the enslaved Mini-Cons, but not in stopping him once and for all – he killed Jhiaxus before escaping into Cybertron's depths."

"Not long afterwards, we Mini-Cons chose to exile ourselves from Cybertron and seek a new world to live on until Megatron and his forces were permanently dealt with, taking those who'd joined him with us in stasis for imprisonment." Sparkplug turned to the monitor, pulling up schematics for a green spaceship. "We modified one of the last remaining Quintesson ships, the _Exodus_, into a massive vessel capable of carrying us to another world, and launched into space." The screen blinked off and rose up and away from them as the Mini-Con vented softly. "Unfortunately, things went wrong – just as we entered TransWarp, many of our ship's systems malfunctioned all at once. We ended up dropping out near your planet and evacuating into escape pods. Most of the pods are probably here on Earth, the rest on your planet's moon. But we still have no idea what caused the systems to fail."

"What happened to the ship?" Diana looked up from her notebook. "Something that big had to crash somewhere, and no one's noticed it by now."

"Our assumption is that it crashed somewhere on Earth, although that's only a hypothesis and we don't have the means to mount a full scale search. This ship only has a few useable flight pods, and all our resources at this point are necessary for locating the other Mini-Con stasis units and holding back the Decepticons."

Optimus' explanation made sense, and Diana moved to another topic. "You said earlier that some of your origins were clouded. How exactly?"

"When we initially found Vector Sigma, there was another Cybertronian guarding it, older than any of us. His name is Vector Prime and according to him, he was one of thirteen Cybertronians given life long ago by Primus."

She tilted her head. "Primus?"

"Our God, for lack of a better term." Sparkplug gestured widely. "According to Vector Prime, Cybertron is Primus' physical body, with Vector Sigma being his central processor. Through it, we were given sparks – souls, only more easily visible. Without a spark, we're just machines, no more alive than a toaster or a microwave oven. No one really argues about Vector's story, but we can't really prove it either."

"And sparks come from Primus," Diana reasoned.

"According to Vector Prime, they're portions of Primus's own essence, called the Allspark." Optimus knelt down beside them. "When a Transformer passes, their spark returns to Primus, enriching him, Cybertron, and in turn all Cybertronians. The longer the life, the greater the enrichment. Eventually, the spark splits from him again, giving life to another Transformer, and the cycle repeats itself."

"Sounds a lot like reincarnation." The teacher tapped her lip with her pencil in thought. "Did Vector Prime give you any other proof of his claims?"

"Some." Optimus opened his chest plate, revealing a large, vaguely oval-shaped golden frame surrounding a spherical crystalline core. "According to him, Primus entrusted seven of the First Thirteen with seven Artifacts. He carried one of them, called the ChronoSaber, which allowed him to manipulate time and space with relative ease. This is another, the Matrix of Leadership, which he gave to me shortly after I came online. Through it, I have a link to the Allspark, allowing me to give life to other Cybertronians if needed but generally providing me a source of wisdom and strength."

Diana stared wide-eyed at the artifact – she had to admit, that was a pretty good bit of proof. "What about the other five Artifacts?"

Prime closed his chest plates. "According to Vector Prime, four of them were launched from Cybertron long before the Quintessons found it. The location to the last one he has kept to himself, and he refuses to tell us anything else about it or the others." The Autobot leader shook his head with slight frustration. "I stopped trying to get answers about it long ago. All I know for certain is that he has his reasons."

Being reminded of more than one bit of selective withholding of information, Diana couldn't help but hope that whatever they were, the reasons were good ones.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the staff, I welcome you on a grand tour of the Sherman Dam Hydroelectric Power Facility." The tour guide and her charges stood within a massive courtyard to one side of a massive hydroelectric dam. Below them were placed numerous large electrical turbines, each spinning and creating massive amounts of electricity every second as water gushed through them, providing power for nearby cities and towns. "Before we begin the tour, we ask you to turn off all cameras and recording devices and please remain with the tour group at all times. Thank..."

Within seconds, several large flashes of light interrupted her as five massive forms, the tallest being well over thirty feet in height, materialized within the courtyard, six smaller human-sized forms appearing with them. Within seconds, the eleven took form and towered over the smaller, more terrified humans within the chamber.

"Orbital jump complete," Starscream reported as he and his fellow Decepticons collected their senses from the trip.

"That wasn't bad at all." Demolishor gave a small smile. "Kinda tickled."

It was at that point that the Decepticons noted the smaller figures at their feet. Megatron loomed over the group of humans and declared, "Earthlings, I am Megatron of the Decepticon Armada! Vacate the premises immediately, or I will wipe you all out in an instant!"

Suffice it to say, the tour guide and her charges quickly vacated the premises, one Japanese vacationer complaining, "This is why I left Tokyo!"

"That was quick!" Cyclonus snickered as he watched the humans leave, alarms sounding around them. "Great show, boss."

"Thank you, Cyclonus, we tyrants must amuse ourselves." The warlord's amusement faded. "Now, to business. Starscream, Demolishor, begin harvesting energy from this facility for conversion into energon cubes. Thrust, Cyclonus, take the Land Military Team and ready the defenses. I have little doubt the Autobots will somehow detect our presence, and I have every intention of being ready for them."

* * *

"Okay, so Primus creates the First Thirteen, gives them artifacts, and then something happens to them that leaves just Vector Prime on Cybertron. Where did Primus come from, and for that matter, why'd he give life to all of you in the first place?"

"Vector Prime always held that Primus was created at the dawn of creation by a being called The One," Optimus explained. "We don't know anything else beyond that. For all we know, this 'One' could be the same as the Judeo-Christian God."

"That might explain some of the similarities to Earth religions… Your version of creation makes a lot more sense than the Christian version, however." Being in her profession, Diana often had the displeasure of dealing with fervent believers in everything from Young Earth creationism to intelligent design – the idea of a divine being's existence didn't offend her, but the idea of Earth being less than ten thousand years old or the notion that a divine being was pushing evolution towards certain ends did. However, she couldn't say that second one outright, as no one could really prove it one way or another. "Still, there looks like there's one big difference – no counter to Primus, a Destroyer to the Creator." Noticing the tomb-like silence from the two Cybertronians, she realized that she had touched their equivalent of a nerve. "Or is there one?"

Optimus reflected on it for a moment, as if hesitant to explain, and chose his words carefully. "There is, yes. And like Primus, there is evidence to suggest his existence. Cybertronian astronomers have watched the stars for millennia, noticing as your people have that their planets' gravities pull on them just as the stars pull back. Those 'wobbles' have dropped over time at points, too much for us to simply be miscalculating. And for those of us who were the first to be given life millions of years ago, there has been a growing dread from the deepest corners of our sparks. We can feel it – _he_ is out there, and may be coming."

"'_He_?'" Diana repeated.

"Unicron," Sparkplug replied, the word spoken cautiously as if it would bring said being right to where they were. "The Dark God, the Chaos Bringer, the Devourer of Worlds. According to Vector Prime, he's why Primus created the First Thirteen and gave them the seven Artifacts. Unicron is said to be as old as space itself, and can only be harmed, never destroyed. It's said that he has crossed dimensions, taken countless prisoners from worlds claimed in the past, and subverted them for his own ends. It's also said that his very voice can tear stars apart."

The young woman looked at the Mini-Con incredulously before turning to Optimus. "And you think he may someday come to Cybertron?"

"It's possible, if unlikely. I only hope that if he ever comes that we can stand against him."

Before Diana could ask about the extent of that 'we', alarm klaxons blared throughout the _Ark_. _:"Optimus, we have a situation,":_ the familiar voice of Red Alert intoned. _:"We're picking up Decepticon activity at a human energy facility. All five Decepticons and their Mini-Con contingent.":_

"Have Hot Shot, Scavenger, Jolt and Rollbar meet me in Shuttle Bay Two," Optimus spoke, slipping from orator to leader. "And ask Smokescreen to come down here to escort our guest to the forward bridge. If anything happens, she'll be safest there."

_:"Understood,": _Red Alert replied before cutting the transmission.

Optimus nodded to Diana apologetically. "I'm afraid we'll have to cut the tour short."

"I understand. Good luck."

"Thank you," Prime responded as he and Sparkplug transformed to vehicle mode. "We may need it."

* * *

Megatron couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride in himself. Thrust's plan was succeeding quite well – the trivial humans had been scared off, artificial energon was being produced at a satisfactory rate, and thus far they had no problems. And even if the Autobots arrived to attack them, they had already won the battle – all that would be needed was a diversion to keep the Autobots at bay long enough for them to make off with their prize. The carbon-based organics were at least useful in this extent.

"Megatron, sir, I'm reading a small craft heading towards us," Thrust reported. "Most likely an Autobot shuttlecraft. How they managed to find us so quickly–"

"Is neither important nor unexpected," Megatron brusquely interrupted. "Starscream, report status."

_:"Energon production is sixty percent complete. We could use some assistance with loading, however.":_

"You'll make due with what you have," the Decepticon warlord said harshly. "We're about to have company. Load all the energon you can then pull out. No excuses."

* * *

"Understood," Starscream replied as another empty cube shone a bright blue from the converted electrical energy. "Demolishor, how much more can you carry?"

Demolishor stood nearby in vehicle mode, a massive cargo hauler connected to his rear. "I'm at forty-five percent capacity now. How much longer before they arrive?"

"Considering the fact that the Autobots would only be setting off from wherever they're based right about now? I'd say about ten kliks, maybe less."

"No pressure," Blackout dryly noted as he loaded another energon cube into Demolishor's cargo hauler.

* * *

The peaceful skies above Sherman Dam were soon shattered by the low roar of atmospheric engines. An angular black craft, small by Cybertronian standards, arced through the air towards the dam even as fire began to pour against it.

"I'd say the 'Cons have noticed us," Hot Shot stated as he plugged a flight wing into his left Powerlinx port.

"They're far from stupid, Hot Shot," Scavenger assured his protégé as he keyed in several commands to the ship's control panel. "Autopilot's set and stealth systems are online."

"Get ready to roll out, bots," Optimus commanded as Sparkplug Powerlinked to his back port.

Optimus pulled a small lever, opening the ship's main hatch seconds before he leaped from the ship, Hot Shot and Scavenger following soon after with Jolt and Rollbar Powerlinked to their respective left limbs. Hot Shot's flight wings soon activated, the small stabilizers and jets allowing the young Autobot to jet in over the area and begin strafing the Decepticons below.

"Hey, no fair!" Cyclonus cried out from below. "Since when could Autobots fly?"

"It doesn't matter!" Megatron bellowed as he prepped his fusion cannon. "We'll simply shoot them out of the sky!"

"Don't count on it, Megatron!" Prime returned as small jump jets in his legs activated, slowing his landing as he descended onto the dam. Almost instantaneously, Optimus opened fire with his arm-mounted guns, allowing for cover as Scavenger activated similar jets in his legs and came in for a landing nearby, his waist-mounted gun providing fire of its own. "Give it up while you can, you can't keep it up forever!"

"You'll see just how long I can keep this up!" his rival commanded. "Land Military Team, Leader-1, with me!"

Megatron's leg compartment opened up, allowing Leader-1 to emerge and Powerlink to the large Decepticon tyrant's right arm. The three members of the Land Military Team begrudgingly transformed to their vehicle modes and Powerlinked to Megatron on his other arm and opposite shoulders. The powered-up tyrant began unleashing his firepower against the comparatively-weaker Autobots as Hot Shot came in for a landing at an elevated position and readied his cannon unit. His targeting screen flipped down as he locked on to Megatron. "Okay, hold still..."

The young mech's thoughts were interrupted as a blast rocketed into his back. He turned around to find Thrust floating nearby. "A cunning tactic, young one. However, you forgot to watch your back."

Hot Shot spun around and shot back, "Watch this!" before firing off his cannon at Thrust, striking the flying Decepticon hard in the abdomen. He staggered back as the yellow racer flipped out his gun and continued fire.

Just as the battle was beginning to increase in intensity, Starscream radioed in. _:"Sir, we've finished loading the energon. Demolishor and Blackout are already back at base, and I'm preparing remote transfer.":_

"Understood," Megatron replied as he cut off the transmission. "A worthy effort, Prime, but wasted! We've already gotten what we came for!"

With those words, Megatron, Cyclonus and the Mini-Cons with them beamed away, Thrust following soon after. His enemies gone, Optimus deactivated his weapons and looked about the surrounding area. "Status report."

"No damage to us, and whatever damage this structure suffered was mercifully light." Scavenger looked over the facility curiously. "Any idea what all this may have been about?"

"Odds are some kind of raid," Prime noted. "They're most likely in more dire straights than we are."

A long range-transmission soon came in as a familiar voice piped in, _:"Optimus? You there, boss-mech?":_

"I'm here, Smokescreen," the Autobot leader replied. "The Decepticons have departed. No injuries on our part. Any specifics on this facility?"

_:"It's a hydroelectric power plant,":_ Diana's voice joined in. _:"One of the cleaner sources of energy here on Earth. Water goes through a set of turbines, which generate electricity using their motion. That plant supplies energy to most of Portland.":_

_:"We can verify that, sir,":_ Red Alert piped in. :_"We read several power drops throughout the area while the Decepticons were present. They're gone now.":_

"Can we talk about this later, guys?" Hot Shot interrupted, pointing at a string of moving dots. "I'm seeing several ground vehicles heading for our position."

Optimus considered his options. With the Decepticons having accomplished their goal and the strong possibility of human authorities arriving, there was little incentive for them to remain at the dam. "Head back to the shuttle and prepare for lift-off."

* * *

"_...Numerous minor power outages occurred today throughout Portland, owing to equipment failure at Sherman Dam. The plant was temporarily evacuated shortly thereafter. No injuries have been reported, and normal plant operations have since been restored..."_

"We're lucky they left when they did," Optimus vented a sigh as he shut off the monitor. "Any ideas?"

"Power drain on the nearby city, lack of damage to any equipment," Smokescreen listed off. "Sounds like they stormed the place and used the turbines to create artificial energon."

"A sound theory," Red Alert noted. "They're more desperate for resources than we ourselves are, and this is the easiest option they had. I don't see Starscream suggesting it, but we may have him to thank for the lack of casualties."

"Sounds like him," Scavenger nodded. "The big question at this point is, how are we going to avoid the same course of action? We can't exactly call in for refills."

"The _Ark_ does have a set of built-in solar receptors." Their medic pulled up schematics of said panels, as well a graphic of them being arrayed on the top of the ship. "They should be enough to provide power here on Earth and allow us to create our own artificial energon. The main problem is the cloaking field – that will limit their effectiveness by up to fifty percent."

Prime studied the arrangement. "Can we minimize that?"

"Possibly. We'll need to access local computer networks to see about flight plans and satellite paths over the area. With enough information, we'll be able to adjust the field so that we can't be picked up from orbit and still allow sunlight in."

Optimus nodded. "Get started as soon as you can. We're going to need all we can get."

* * *

Meanwhile, Starscream stood within the _Nemesis_' cargo hold, retrieving the pieces of equipment he needed for his solar array project. The main hatch opened, and a satisfied voice echoed in. "My plan succeeded, Starscream. Lord Megatron is pleased."

"And he has every right to be – we managed a rather impressive haul." He knew full well that Thrust was baiting him, and opted to simply congratulate the younger mech on his success and move on. "Assuming nothing exciting happens, we won't need to do it again in another point-three deca-cycles." The last of his equipment found, the red-and-white Seeker deposited it into the cargo hauler and made his way to the landing hatch. "Meanwhile, he never said no to my proposal either." Pressing the "down" button, he simply stood and waited as a landing platform descended, a force field maintaining the atmosphere within the cargo bay. Just before he totally passed through the field, Starscream offered lightly, "No rest for the wicked."

Thrust merely fumed as he turned and departed the cargo bay, wing flaps vibrating at the brush-off.

The End


End file.
